The iPhone 5 News Blog

Chatter about Apple’s rumored iWatch continues to escalate through 2013, with a tech analyst now predicting an iWatch release in 2014 with cool biometric features.

I have still yet to come around to the iWatch, and how a glorified calculator watch is in any way an improvement over what the average consumer has available to them — namely, high-performance laptops, tablets, and smartphones. And yet, it would appear that smartwatches are going to become a reality, with ever-advancing rumors coming out of both the Apple and Android camps.

It would appear, however, that 2013 is probably not going to be the year of the smartwatch — at least for Apple. A financial tech analyst is predicting that 2014 will be the year of the iWatch, and that it will feature heavy-duty biometric features as well as iOS integration. (Duh.) Read More

 

The US Patent and Trademark Office recently published a list of 26 patents it just granted Apple, Inc. 3 out of the 26 patents are particularly notable: a Push-to-Talk iPhone feature, multi-touch refinements and upgrades for the Magic Mouse, and a double-sided touch panel, all of which were parsed out by the ever cool Patently Apple.

Most of the new patents are means to ends, for the most part, but a few of the patents are definitely worth taking a quick look at — especially what looks to be the Apple version of the Push-To-Talk feature for a future iPhone.

Oh, and my other big question — is there any possible way that we could see a Push-to-Talk feature on the 2013 iPhone 5S, vis a vis an iOS 7 feature?

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As if Apple hasn’t already endeavored to have their own version of every personal media device man has conceived, rumors of an Apple smart watch or “iWatch” are steadily gaining speed.

A report was released yesterday on Japanese tech rumor website Macotakara highlighting the latest rumors on the supposed smart watch, spotted in Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, which, just like every other Apple rumor mill, has had its own hits and misses.

Is the iWatch really going to become a reality after all?

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Leaked images and recent reports suggest that the iPhone 5S‘s components are about to enter full production. A late-summer release may be in sight.

One of the few reliable indicators in the iPhone rumor cycle are reports of component production ramping up. Without them — as well as an iOS beta release to work with — the next iPhone is nothing more than a glint in Tim Cook’s eye. The good news, however, is that we’re finally beginning to see reports flow in from Asia that production of components is getting underway in earnest.

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A widely circulated rumor that Verizon is set to cut prices of the iPhone 5 by $100 this month suggests that the iPhone 5S release could be earlier than expected.

A fresh rumor is spreading throughout the tech media suggesting that a high-profile promotion set for the iPhone 5 in May suggests that Apple could once again return to releasing a new iPhone in the early summer, as it did in previous years. The rumor, which claims that Verizon is poised to offer the iPhone 5 at an astounding $100 off its current pricing, would ostensibly be a move on the part of the U.S.’s second-largest mobile carrier to dump large stocks of iPhone 5 units ahead of the iPhone 5S’s release sometime in June or July.

Considering that Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the once-prominent event that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs used to announce new iPhone models, is scheduled for its typical mid-June launch, could mean that Verizon — and perhaps other mobile carriers as well — will attempt to sell off the iPhone 5 just ahead of the new model’s release.

However, given what we know from past iPhone releases, does this rumor really make any sense? Read More

After nearly a year of lofty claims of a phablet release and low-cost iPhone, the tech media and analysts are beginning to settle on nothing more than the refreshed iPhone 5S.

The bold, provocative claims on this year’s rumor mill appear to fast dissolving as the WWDC approaches. Last week, we reported on how analysts were walking back initial claims of an early-summer iPhone 5S release, citing supply issues in Asia. Still in the rumor hopper as of last week, however, were the prospects of the long-rumored, low-cost “el cheap-o” iPhone, whose rear plate was rumored to have been sourced by case company Tactus. Along with the belief by some in the media and industry that Apple would expand the 2013 iPhone’s screen to playlet-like dimensions, the hopes for a big Apple splash remained palpable.

Now, a new report suggests that analysts and the media are rethinking such claims, and settling on the fact that consumers may get little more than a refreshed iPhone 5S in 2013 after all. Read More

The Apple rumor mill will be prognosticating the new WWDC 2013 logo, looking for cryptic meaning. Let’s not forget last year when the 2012 WWDC meant bupkis.

Let the games begin. Apple has once again announced its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will run from June 10th through the 14th at the Moscone Center. Because of the WWDC’s long-heralded role as the go-to event for announcing the iPhone — a once-prominent ritual that Steve Jobs managed to weave into the fabric of the mainstream — virtually none of us can let go the full measure of anticipation that comes with this announcement.

Will we see a surprise iPhone announcement? Maybe the iPhone 5S? Or, how about the el cheap-o iPhone? An iPhone 5 News Blog source even recently claimed that the iPad 5 is due up in June, suggesting that perhaps the WWDC could become the new launching event for iPads instead of iPhone?

Certainly, no one knows. But one thing’s for sure: the WWDC probably doesn’t give us any hints. Apple isn’t that imaginative anymore. Read More

In the past, the WWDC was associated with the launch of new iPhones. According to an exclusive iPhone 5 News Blog source, however, the iPad 5 will release in June, and could possibly be the centerpiece at this year’s WWDC.

A trusted iPhone 5 News Blog source, who chooses to remain anonymous, claims that the new iPad 5 will be released in June. This source, which comes from the consumer technology accessories sector, is the same source that the Blog has cited in the past, who correctly stated in 2011 that only a refreshed iPhone 4S would be released, and that the release date would be in the fall of that year instead of at the 2011 WWDC. You’ll recall that 2011 was the first year that the iPhone did not show up at the WWDC keynote address.

However, our source’s iPad 5 release date prediction does suggest that, in a dramatic change of tradition, the WWDC could become the new venue for future iPad releases. Read More

A purported rear back plate from what is said to house the up-coming low-cost “el cheap-o” iPhone has hit the rumor. Truth be told: it could be the start of a cool-looking device.

Since the start of the low-cost “el cheap-o” iPhone (as I like to call it) rumors, it has been hard for some hard core Apple stalwarts to imagine Apple dumbing down the iPhone for the purposes of selling to the developing world or masses. Would this be the kind of flimsy, feature-thin smartphone you buy at a CVS in a blister pack with no contract? Even if, in the short term, a move like that would buoy Apple sales and stock, and match wits with the likes of its Android competitors — could the el cheap-o iPhone be the beginning of the end of Apple as a premium brand? The gold standard of consumer electronics?

Maybe. But up until now, we really haven’t had a look at what the el cheap-o iPhone could end up looking like. This new photo — if authentic — at least looks like something that Apple would make. Read More

A top financial tech analyst is claiming that his initial belief that the iPhone 5S would be released in the early summer months is changing due to pre-production issues with Apple’s Asian supply chain.

Here at the iPhone 5 News Blog, we’ve argued for the past few months that two key factors would determine whether or not an early-summer iPhone 5S release — such as at this year’s WWDC in June — would be possible: the early release of iOS 7 beta, and a quiet spring Apple release schedule. Neither have happened.

While there have been some recent reports of iOS 7 showing up in web logs, we would have needed to see iOS 7 beta released by now in order for the iPhone 5S to be ready in time for the WWDC. And the T-Mobile iPhone 5 announcement most certainly changed the iPhone 5S release date calculus.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, however, claims that the early-summer release was indeed Apple’s plans, and that it is only a pre-production delay that will push back the iPhone 5S, el cheap-o iPhone, and even the iPhone 6. Read More